Elohanne Nightborne
Elohanne Nightborne (usually known as "Eloha") is the Shadowmaster of the Dark Monks in Tyrrus, and holds the title of "Darkstar", meaning she wields a fraction of Ryvera's power. Early Life Elohanne was the firstborn child of Bramwell Nightborne, a Senator of Haven, and his wife Tullia. As the heir of the Nightbornes, she was extremely pampered and brought up to live in a noble court by her mother. However, her father was annoyed that he hadn't had a son. After the birth of Elohanne's sister Scarlet, their father got more and more agitated about his lack of a male heir. Though it was not unheard of for a woman to reach a position of power, it generally took a lot more work, and Bramwell was sure that neither of his daughters would be able to muster that effort while their "weak" mother was raising them. Their relationship was always strained, but it was during these years that Bramwell and Tullia's marriage started to become resentful and spite-filled. They would often argue in the halls of Blackmourne, and Eloha tried to block out the sound but was mostly unsuccessful. When Eloha was 5, she heard her father hit her mother, and could no longer hide. She ran in and screamed at her father to stop, and received a slap for the disobedience. From that day forward Bramwell became more and more aggressive, though he rarely took out his anger on his daughters or wife for fear of his reputation. Tullia became worried that he would take out his aggression on the servants and so hired an earth mage to create a fully golem serving staff. The main golem, the Housekeeper Margaret, became the one to raise the children and protect them, at Tullia's command. The Nightborne family had been falling in local politics for a few years by this point, and although Bramwell struggled to keep the family afloat, they were consistently losing money. The worst part was the derision he received from his fellow senators, who were saying he should be removed from office and began to bring up the family's dark heritage, something that Bramwell himself had tried to disguise. Under this constant barrage of financial and political problems, combined with his own anger issues, he became depressed and moody and started drinking a lot of alcohol. Later that year Eloha's brother Varius was born, and their mother died in the childbirth. Bramwell's reaction to the death was almost one of apathy, but he was glad for the birth of a son. After the death of his wife, Bramwell's aggression became much less tempered, and he was unable to hold back from occasionally hitting his children for their tiniest mistakes. The golems could no longer protect the children either, for Bramwell was now their master. He left Varius alone and sheltered for the most part, as he started to grow older Bramwell would send the boy away to stay with other families. At this point Eloha was mostly left unharmed too, for the young girl would often spend her time in Haven and she was still his eldest child, he couldn't let people see bruises. However, when it came to Scarlet he had no such limitations. Unknown to the other children, Scarlet would receive terrible abuse, being locked away in her room, being beaten, and generally neglected. Elohanne discovered this at the age of 13, when she walked in on her father abusing her sister. She immediately stepped in and fought back, and received a beating of her own because of it. From then on Eloha protected her sister and made sure to keep her close, taking the beatings in place of her sister. She toughened up, and by the age of 16 she could put up a fight against her father, but she would always lose. The Breaking Point Bramwell's mental condition was getting worse and worse, and the final blow came when it was discovered that Varius was a homosexual. Eloha was 19 by this point and Varius was 14, she found her brother beaten bloody and thrown into the stables, kicked out of his room. She confronted her father about this and fought harder than she ever had before, but each blow she landed on Bramwell just made him angrier. Eventually he grabbed her by the throat and began to strangle her to death. Elohanne truly believed she would die, and perhaps she would have, had a presence not come to her in her time of need. The Dark Gods had heeded her call. Flames wreathed around her hands and she grabbed at her fathers strong hands. Both held on, furious, until Bramwell let her go, his hands burned. Eloha was too injured and exhausted to continue fighting, and so left, to care for her brother and sister. The next few days, Bramwell became eerie and strange. He pretended to have changed, he pretended to be kind to his children, he brought in healers from Haven to patch them up, and gave them many gifts. but Eloha could see behind his eyes there was something else. He was getting desperate and was trying to be less impulsive, but she also saw an element of fear whenever he looked at her. He hosted balls, apparently for his children, but the truth was he was just looking to marry his children off to richer nobles. Eventually he had found a willing partner for all his children. His plan was to send Eloha and Scarlet away, and let Varius bring his betrothed into Blackmourne, so the family would not die off. But Eloha knew what would happen if Bramwell was left alone with Varius, and she couldn't bear to spend time away from her siblings, neither of whom were particularly stable. She made a plan. Eloha left a note for her father explaining that the three would go and join the Dark Monks. Those who joined the Dark Monks relinquished all titles and heritage. She tried to leave before he found out, but had trouble convincing Scarlet to leave. Scarlet was a very unstable and anxious young girl, she was scared of how angry everyone would be if she left. Eloha tried to explain that they'd be safe, but Scarlet was paranoid and had somehow come to believe that her father could reach her anywhere. Eloha and Varius went to the Dark Monks and explained their reason for joining. The monks could see dark power in both children and readily accepted them, however Eloha didn't stay long before returning for Scarlet. Forgiveness When she returned, she found Scarlet at the front of the manor, cradled in the arms of a golem, but beaten bloody, much like how Varius had been. Scarlet had bore the brunt of their father's anger and Eloha couldn't help but blame herself. She sprinted, crying, into the mansion, wielding a knife, determined to deliver justice to her father for all the wrongs he had committed, and for all the pain and abuse he had delivered to his children. She did not care about her own beatings, most of those had been her own fault. She did this for Scarlet, who was innocent and just so happened to be born at the wrong time, and for Varius, who was punished simply for who he was. She burst into her father's office, rage in her eyes, tears on her cheeks. The room was filled with empty bottles and bits of paper strewn about. Bramwell himself sat on the floor, back to the deck, bottle in hand, and crying. Eloha had never seen what happened after her father's fits of anger, she had never seen the emotional toll the mood swings had on her father. As her father looked up at her, a hint of fear in his eyes, she felt something new for the man. Pity. The paper strew about the room was mostly negative, their financial status had nose-dived, Nightborne property had been taken away, her father's place in the Senate had finally been stripped of him, and he'd been keeping these secrets from his children, for what reason she could not know. After a moment, she sat next to him. No words passed between them for the longest time, and Eloha questioned what she had come there to do. Eventually he softly spoke an apology for everything he had done. Eloha realised that if she killed her father out the anger she had felt, she would be no better than him. She would not become her father. So she forgave him. At her forgiveness her father seemed surprised, but then she saw him genuinely smile for the first time. A moment later, his eyes closed slowly and he slumped against the desk. The alcohol and constant rage had taken its toll on his body over the years, and finally he died. The Dark Monks In the Dark Monks Eloha was taught how to fight and how to use her magic. But more importantly she was taught about the Dark Gods and the careful balance of power that the Dark Monks had be founded to preserve. Eloha had become attached to Dathalin, the God of mistakes, accidents, faults and forgiveness, and she was taught how to channel the power of her god to help her. She was also taught about the undead, and the threat they posed on this world. It was hard work, but Eloha was determined and she soon became one of the Black Monastery's most capable monks. Eloha didn't care much for the studies of the Gods, but a subject that did interest her was The Spirit Realm, particularly the figures surrounding its creation and maintenance. The Dark Monks had discovered by this point that Zaikerik had usurped leadership of the Spirit Realm and killed the King of the Dead. After studying with many of the Monastery's scholars, they managed to determine that the mantle of the King of the Dead would pass onto a new target, one still living, and they discovered that the most likely child to have inherited this responsibility would be Mina Frost, in Haven. She was sent out to collect Mina, but during her mission the city was attacked by The Jailor and an undead army. She managed to find Mina and save her from the Jailor, then brought her back to the Black Monastery to help train her.